By Rick Reeno
BoxingScene.com took a trip to the Las Vegas training camp of WBC light heavyweight champion "Bad" Chad Dawson (31-1, 17KOs), who continues to slim down for his anticipated return to the super middleweight division.
On September 8th at the Oracle in Oakland, Dawson will drop down to 168 to challenge undefeated Andre Ward (25-0, 13KOs) for the WBC/WBA super middleweight titles. HBO will televise.
Dawson has been criticized in past performances for not letting his hands go, but he believes that he's fully capable of closing the show when steps in the ring against Ward.
"Yes I do [believe that I can take him out], I know I can take him out," Dawson said.
"We broke down all the tapes to see who he's fought and what he's done in the ring and honestly I wasn't impressed."
Dawson understands why most experts have him listed as the underdog. However, he promises to change those opinions on the night of the fight.
"He's just another fighter. I understand that fact that he won a gold medal in the Olympics and he has that amateur background, but this is the pros. He's never faced a fighter like me. No matter what they tell you. No matter what anybody says. I don't care what they say, he's never been in the ring with a fighter like me. Come the 8th, he's going to see something that he's never seen before and he's going to have to deal with it for twelve rounds," Dawson said.
"He beat some guys, but none of those guys can measure up to what I can do in the ring."
Dawson was never worried about giving Ward the hometown advantage or accepting the fight at 168. He feels confident that neither of those factors will play a role in the outcome.
"[I accepted his terms] because it's a fight that I know I can win. I have every advantage in this fight. The fact that he won a gold medal, he won the Super Six tournament - everybody looks at that and thinks he's so much better. He makes a lot of mistakes and my job is to go out there to make him pay for those mistakes," Dawson said.
